


I'll Find You In the Light

by KuroDoujinShi



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Can this even be considered canon?, Character Death, Eliwood/Ninian is one-sided, F/F, M/M, Portals, Weird Plot Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-02-18 05:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13093659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroDoujinShi/pseuds/KuroDoujinShi
Summary: Seven years ago, Eliwood lost his best friend during a camping trip he can no longer remember. Now, at the age of twenty-three, he returns to Pharae Forest with two friends, not anticipating to find anything more than a fun, maybe awkward night. In the middle of it all, Eliwood finds himself walking into a burst of light, waking up to a fantasy world filled with dark lords, dragons, and something he'd thought he'd lost forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first of all I need to give two credits.
> 
> My good friend for encouraging me to write this I love her she is a treasure
> 
> My boyfriend for letting me throw ideas at him and affectionately nicknaming this "Fucking Dragons"
> 
> Okay let the hesitant optimism begin.

A bright light surrounded him. He could feel himself being pulled forward, pulled into a shining but mysterious abyss. His breath quickened, his heart clenched. He didn’t want to go, he didn’t want to go, he didn’t want to go.

He didn’t want to go.

A strong hand yanked him back, pulling him out of the gravitational pull of the deceptively glamorous vortex before him. He let out a sigh of relief, and as soon as his balance recovered he moved to thank his savior. However, there was no longer a person there. Instead, fragments of a human being remained, leaving a fading desperate face and an outstretched hand. Eliwood reached out the return the prior favor, trying to grab the hand. Instead, he was met with the feeling of fleeting pieces of reality passing through his fingers.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Blue eyes shot open at the screaming of the alarm clock, looking around for a moment before settling on the fragments of light that snuck past his shut blinds. Eliwood sat up, rubbing a hand through his fiery hair and stretching. He stood up, scratching his pajama pant covered legs to revive the feeling into them, and sliding on a black tank top before making his way downstairs to prepare coffee. His parents were likely already gone, since it wasn’t that early in the morning. They’d left coffee in the coffee maker for him, and he had more than enough cereal to handle whatever hunger he may feel in the morning. He didn’t have any school today. Was there something he needed to do?

He looked down at his phone, checking through his most recent texts before remembering that he was going out with his friends Marcus and Lowen on a camping trip in the woods nearby. Pharae Forest, they were called. Pharest. He stared at his phone, his chest tightening for just a moment. That. . .was where Hector had gone missing, about seven years ago, when they were sixteen. He was twenty-three now, and still empty on answers. He remembered taking out his father’s car for a nighttime ride with his best friend, he remembered going into the forest, and then he remembered waking up on ground. . .alone. No one had heard from Hector since.

Part of him felt that something was still wrong. In fact, most of him did. The likelihood that Hector simply ran off in the night was very, very small if it even existed at all. However, he had no memories of that night after parking the car. He’d sat with the police for hours, only to come up with nothing. However, ever since then, he’d had a reoccurring dream. A dream of being pulled towards light, and then saved but some humanesque being whose face could only show the expression of panic. Every time he tried to save his companion, he would reach out just a second too late.

After several hours of finding ways to waste his time, working on last bits of schoolwork and playing video games, he finally got dressed and slid on his shoes. Eliwood was in no way an incredibly formal dresser, but he did take a bit of pride in his appearance. If nothing else, he was certainly not sloppy. Neat, clean jeans, with good shoes, and always accompanied by a nice blue coat. His favorite color. He sent his mother a text, telling her he would be out for the night, but not quite where he was going. Since Hector’s disappearance, his parents had been wary of him ever returning to the woods.

He sat on the curb, waiting for Marcus to pull up in his white station wagon. A car built for safety, of course. Eliwood himself had affectionately nicknamed it “The Tank”, since he was pretty sure it would take a bus to actually put anything more than a light dent in that car. He slid into the passenger seat, Lowen sitting on his 3DS in the backseat and Marcus in the driver’s seat, his hands stuck at 10 and 2. He grinned, putting his phone away.

“Ready for a great night?” He asked, looking between the two of them.

“I’m always ready for a great night.” Lowen piped in from the backseat. Eliwood laughed. The boy wasn’t lying. He’d helped Eliwood through a good several dark times in his life by being the supportive man he was.

“We really don’t have to do this.” Marcus offered. “Say the word and we can go back to my house and binge watch World War II documentaries.”

“I want to do this Marcus.” Eliwood insisted. “It’s just a one night camping trip, and we’ll be really close to home. It’s not like anything can go wrong, right?”

“Exactly!” Lowen piped in. “Besides, all you ever want to watch is documentaries. I do appreciate the information, of course, but every so often you need to shake it up, yeah?”

“I suppose you’re right, though there’s never a bad time to learn.” Marcus admitted, rolling his eyes. He started the car and drove away from the house, heading towards the woods. The trip was only about fifteen minutes away by car, only a couple miles outside of town. They parked in the parking lot for the campgrounds and slid out of the car, grabbing the supplies that Marcus had personally taken charge of before heading into the woods, setting up camp about a mile away from the lot.

It didn’t take them a very long time to set up, especially since Marcus took charge of the set up and took care of most of the challenging things. As Marcus set up the tent and Lowen went out collecting firewood, Eliwood took an inventory of the items they had put together. Every so often his eyes would move away from the items to stare at the trees around them, or at hidden pockets of visibility around their tiny clearing, and he would lose himself in thought, and then have to start over again.

“Eliwood, you okay?” Eliwood looked up at the sound of the voice above him to see Lowen seeming to stare down at him with an armful of sticks and kindling. He could never actually tell if Lowen was looking at him, his hair styled in the way it was.

“Y-Yeah.” Eliwood quickly insisted, taking the last little bit of inventory he had to do. “I’m doing great! Just thinking about everything we can do tonight, of course. We’re going to make smores.” He helped Lowen set up the fire pit, surrounding it it rocks and then stuffing little bits of newspaper between the sticks to help start the fire. He lit a match and carefully lit the newspaper, watching his tiny fire grow.

They did, of course, make smores. After all, what was a camp out without smores? Along with smores, they spent quite a bit of time joking around, and Marcus even told the pair of them a campfire story he remembered being told by his father. It was the story of the sword in the stone, a story they’d all grown up with, but neither Lowen nor Eliwood had the heart to tell Marcus that, and they were pretty sure the other knew that anyway. He just wanted to share a story that he had always loved, and they were more than happy to listen.

They moved on to stargazing shortly after, Eliwood having grown a fascination with the tiny glimmering lights in the sky after losing Hector. He stared at them, pointing out various constellations, particularly his favorite of all, Orion, and pretended he couldn’t see the somewhat concerned look that his two friends shared. It wasn’t his fault that Orion reminded him of his impulsive, fight-happy best friend. Still, he appreciated them not saying a word, simply allowing him to carry on.

As the fire died out and they grew tired from stargazing, and a little bit drunk from the cans of beer they passed between each other, the three of them fell asleep outside their tent, the fire going out shortly before Eliwood managed to finally sleep. A few hours later, perhaps around 4am, he woke up again, feeling the urge to answer the call of nature. He left the campsite, searching for a good, nearby place.

On his way back to their camp, he was stopped by a mysterious sound in the air. It was a soft, incoherent voice. It seemed to be speaking nonsense, but it was. . .alluring nonsense. He found himself following the voice before he even told his body to move, trying to discern the source as he half-stumbled through the trees. However, as he grew closer the voice only seemed to move further away.

As he moved further along, he noticed a light in front of him. It almost looked like the headlights of a car for a moment, and he squinted his eyes. However, that wouldn’t make any sense. The road should have been in the other direction, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t that drunk. However, the voice now began to grow closer, and he felt himself following his ever increasing desires for a source, and for answers.

He felt a strange tingling sensation as the light began to grow larger and brighter. He looked down at his hands, and his eyes widened. His body was beginning to dissipate, almost as though he was made of tiny particles that were being sucked into the light like a shimmering vortex. He opened his mouth to let out a cry for help.

And then the world went black.

____________________________________________________________________________

In the middle of a forest, surrounded by the dark and the quiet, a redhead lay unconscious on the ground. A large, shadowy figure with almost luminescent blue eyes walked up, staring down at the sleeping man with a neutral expression. The figure bent down and picked up the man, seeming to clutch him with a surprising gentleness, considering their size. With that, they turned and walked away, once again disappearing into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliwood wakes up in a strange place to a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHH I'M SORRY I TOOK SO LONG I TRIED I PROMISE

Eliwood woke up to filtered light shining into his eyes, and for a minute he thought he was at home, in his bed, waking up to another of not being dead but not quite feeling alive. He stared at the wall as it came more into focus, and suddenly realized it was the wrong color. It wasn’t the off-white he remembered. It was brown, and made of wood. He sat up with a start as memories returned to him, and looked around. This definitely wasn’t home. He stepped off the bed as silently as he could, and moved to the door, pushing it open slightly to look outside. There appeared to be a man walking around the room, attending to a large pot that sat over a fire and finding various ways to entertain himself. He had short, light hair. Dirty blond, as one would call it, and wore a red. . .well, Eliwood wanted to call it a scarf, but that probably wasn’t the right word. Whatever it was, he couldn’t help but wonder if the other had ever managed to trip on it.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Eliwood’s eyes widened when he was spoken to, not realizing the other had noticed him. He kept himself from shrinking back as the man looked at him, moving closer. He opened the door more, but kept slightly behind it, ready to use it as a shield just in case the man attacked him. “It’s alright.” The man said, smiling. “I don’t bite. My name is Matthew.”

“I’m. . .Eliwood.” He introduced himself, returning the smile, however cautious it may be. It wouldn’t due to be uncourteous in the household of what seemed to be his host. “If I may ask, where am I?”

“Lycia.” Matthew responded, returning to the pot quickly. “My companion, he found you passed out about two days ago in the woods nearby the house. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake up.” He motioned to nearby bucket. “You must be hungry, and thirsty. There’s water in there, and food should be ready shortly. My companion should return shortly. He went into town to trade for some clothes for you. He seemed to know your size well enough. Let’s hope he guessed correctly.” It was then that Eliwood realized he was dressed in very loose, plain clothes, much too big for him. At least he hadn’t been laying in his own filth, he supposed.

“And your companion, what is his name?”

“Sorry.” Matthew gave him a sheepish grin. “He wanted to tell you himself, and made me promise not to say anything.” Eliwood nodded, not pleased, but understanding. “It’ll all make sense soon, I promise. Though I guess I shouldn’t promise. It doesn’t even make sense to me.”

That was when Eliwood decided that Matthew was weird.

It could have been worse, though. At least Matthew was friendly enough, and Eliwood found tasks to do as he hesitantly began leaving to confines of the bedroom and asking Matthew if he needed help. He was mostly charged with watching food cook and tending the fire so Matthew to attend to other duties around the small house, mostly outside, it seemed. After what felt like an hour or two, Eliwood heard the sound of Matthew talking to someone outside. The other voice felt. . .very familiar. For the life of him, he couldn’t place who it was. It was like an uncanny valley for familiarity. He recognized it, but not quite, and it was almost eerie. He stood up to investigate just as the door opened, and he stopped in his tracks. He felt his heart jump up into his throat, and he found himself unable to breathe.

That was Hector. It had to be. It couldn’t be anyone else but Hector. The blue hair, the blue eyes, the larger build, but most of all the voice. How could he not have recognized that voice before. There was only one person he knew with that odd, deep, booming, wonderful voice. It could only ever have been Hector.

“Hector. . .” Eliwood said, if only to hear it out loud. He could hardly handle was happening, and was beginning to wonder if perhaps during that trip to the woods he had actually died. “But. . .that can’t be. You died, didn’t you? You died. We held a funeral and everything. I was there. I was there. You died. Am I dead? Did I die? I died.”

“Eliwood, you’re not dead.” Hector said firmly, though he seemed to be in just as much shock as the redhead. That only led to the last tiny bit of confirmation Eliwood convinced himself that he needed. “It’s really confusing, and I have no clue how it happened, but welcome to Lycia, I guess.” The strong and loud guy he remembered almost seemed resigned. Well, not resigned. He doubted Hector could ever bring himself to resign to anything. Or from anything. He once got an A in an elective he hated out of spite. However, he did seem like he’d. . .accepted the world. Like this was just life now. Which Eliwood supposed it was, or at least had been. Afterall, Hector had been dead for seven years. No, not dead, he reminded himself. Just. . .missing. Gone. In Lycia. And now Eliwood was in Lycia. Eliwood is in Lycia. His friends are in the woods, in the real world. He’s missing. His parents and friends will all think he’s dead. His mother will cry, his father will hold his funeral. His friends will go nuts. Someone might think he was murdered. They’ll never his body, cause it certainly isn’t in that world. Maybe this is a dream. This must be a dream. Hector is here, at least. That makes it a good dream. He liked good dreams.

“So. . .what is Lycia?” He asked. Hector and Matthew both looked shocked, as though they weren’t expecting Eliwood to accept this so quickly. Why should he spend all his time denying it? It was a dream, after all, right? Of course it was. They didn’t know that, though. Or at least they didn’t seem to. Does a dream ever actually know it’s a dream? Eliwood would ponder philosophical questions that he was heavily underqualified to handle later. For now, Hector. “I mean, if I’m here, I should know, right?”

“You’re. . .handling this _really_ well.” Matthew commented. He looked up at Hector. “Your first instinct when you first woke up and saw Serra standing over you was to almost punch her in the face.” Eliwood couldn’t help but laugh. That definitely sounded like Hector.

“Eliwood was definitely the calmer of the two of us.” Hector admitted, looking off to the side just a bit.

“I mean, I’d personally call it more rational as opposed to calmer, but that works too.” Eliwood said. With Hector here, he felt a little more at ease, even if he hadn’t seen him in almost a decade. Despite so many years apart, just being around the other man already made him feel more alive. “Or both.”

“I see you haven’t changed.” Hector commented, a playful grin, or should it be called a smirk, growing wider on his face. He crossed his arms, and let the smile fall after a few thoughtful seconds. “Eliwood, Matthew put some clothes I got for you in the room you were in. After you’ve changed out of my clothes come find me. I think we should go for a walk.” Eliwood nodded and returned to the room without another word, trying to not think about the fact that apparently Hector undressed him.

He walked out to meet Hector, who was sitting at the table with Matthew. They were discussing something, but quieted almost as soon as Eliwood entered the room. He frowned, tempted to press the issue, but decided not to. Hector seemed to have changed in a few ways, he doubted he was any better at talking about his personal issues. Somethings just seem like they wouldn’t change until they were both old and gray, yelling at kids to get off their lawn.

Lawns.

_Lawns._

As in two of them.

Separate.

“Are you ready to get going?” Hector asked. Eliwood nodded and the larger man stood up, and they walked out together. Hector was quiet for the first several minutes, which felt weird. Eliwood wasn’t used to quiet Hector. He hoped quiet Hector wasn’t the new normal, because he happened to have an appreciation for loud Hector. Quiet Hector was strange.

“So, you wanted to know about about Lycia, right?” Hector asked, right. They’d been walking through forest for about fifteen minutes at this point, Eliwood feeling too awkward and self-conscious to break the silence with a light-hearted joke like he normally would have. “Well, here’s the closest village to us.” He pointed out of an opening in the thicket to a village. There were a pair in front of the village, seeming to be practicing archery. They were a boy and a girl, the boy laughing as the girl just slightly missed her target each time. He had somewhat messy brown hair, and the girl had bright green hair pulled into a pair of braids. They seemed to be having fun, Eliwood couldn’t figure out why Hector sounded. . .uncharacteristically solemn.

“They look like they’re enjoying themselves.” Eliwood mentioned. The girl shot again, and cheered when she hit the center of the target. The boy cheered along with her. “Siblings?”

“Not quite.” Hector said. “She’s the mayor’s daughter, or at least I’ve heard. She used to have an older brother, and that was his best friend. They went out to become mercenaries, but the brother supposedly tried to come back. The guy came back to find out his best friend died. So he stepped in and took over the big brother role, in a way.”

“Oh. . .”

“There are stories like that all over Lycia.” Hector informed him. “It’s because there’s no one taking care of the bandits.”

“Isn’t there anyone controlling it? There’s a leader here, isn’t there? Other than the mayors, I mean.”

“There’s supposedly a king.” There was a pause between them. “I haven’t really interacted with too many people outside Matthew and a few others since I’ve been here though. For the first few years I was adjusting and after that I just. . .didn’t want to.” Eliwood frowned. That was strange. Hector was. . .exuberant. Loud. He couldn’t imagine him avoiding society. What had this world done to him. He felt too real to be a dream now. _What had this world done to him_. He was about to say something when Hector cut him off. “Anyway, they call him Nergal, and he’s crazy. Or so I’ve heard.”

“I mean, I’d be crazy too if my name was Nergal.” Eliwood admitted.

“Yeah, seems like it comes with the territory.” Hector shrugged. After a minute he grinned, and Eliwood suddenly found himself in a headlock. “Anyway, time to teach you how to defend yourself! I hope you haven’t forgotten your fencing lessons, cause Matthew has an extra sword he offered to give to you. I can’t let my little buddy go unarmed, now can I?”

“I’m not that little! You’re just a tree!”

“Heh heh. . .you’re little me!”

It was nice, Eliwood decided, these small moments. It almost felt like old times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I won't take as long next time I hope you enjoyed it! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliwood decides to go out and explore at least a little bit of his new world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys look at Kuro actually following a schedule for once in his life.

As the days passed, Eliwood grew antsy. Matthew and Hector both seemed to be fairly secretive about the world around him, a world that while harsh, seemed to be quite beautiful. Eliwood wanted to at least explore it, and be somewhere other than the cabin and general surrounding area. It had been what seemed to be about two weeks since he arrived, unable to be completely accurate as days began blending together, and he’d been mostly helping around the cabin, training with the sword he’d been provided with, and catching up with Hector. As secretive as the blunette seemed to be, he was still able to dazzle Eliwood with his more “mundane” adventures, like when he punched a bear.

Eliwood very rarely talked about his own modern world unless Hector asked him about it. He would like to tell him all about everything that happened after he was gone, or get nostalgic about old times with him, but everytime they discussed it Hector got a faraway look in his eyes and the tinge of sadness that hid within them was not something that Eliwood wanted to be the source of. So instead, if he wasn’t asked, he simply kept it in his head, and focused on adjusting to his new world.

It was hard to adjust without people, however, and Eliwood wanted to experience something new. He wanted to go to the nearby village, at the very least, but Hector insisted that he couldn’t go alone. The man always left before sunrise, before Eliwood was awake, and when he came back would insist Eliwood could join him the next day if he defeated in a spar. Every day he tried to beat him, but Hector had had far more practice in the past few years than when they took sword-fighting lessons together as kids, where Eliwood had usually beat him about half the time.

Now, Eliwood was nothing if not smart, and sneaking out didn’t take too much intelligence. There was a window in the back room, and Matthew would most likely be in the front attending to their small garden while Hector was out doing whatever he did while he was gone. Eliwood had genuinely no idea. He did know, however, that he would soon be able to explore a small portion of this strange new world.

The next day, Eliwood grabbed one of Matthew’s brown cloaks, the man much closer to his size than Hector, and climbed out of the aforementioned window. He quickly disappeared into the woods, and turned to the right, going forward until he noticed a familiar sight that marked the path that Hector had taken him on that day. He followed it, approaching the village. He pulled the hood up out of paranoia. Hector had yet to return home, and the large man could be fearsome when angry.

As he walked into the village, he noticed that it was a bit quieter than he had anticipated. Not that he’d expected a lot of traffic, but there only seemed to be a handful of people, most of them guarding the surrounding area. It was a lot of homes, but he could hear the sound of music off in the distance. Following it through the city streets, he smiled at people as they passed. Depending on the person, they either looked away or smiled back. Most of the friendlier people seemed to be younger, around his age. The more mature adults were less trusting of this strange person wrapped in a cloak like he had something to hide.

“Excuse me.” Eliwood almost jumped at the abruptness of the voice behind him, having begun to get lost in his thoughts. He turned to see the green-haired girl from the day before, her hair pulled into its usual twin braids. She had her hands on her hips and was looking at him with fierce curiosity. At her side was her brunette companion, who had a similar inquisitive expression, but a little more subdued than the girl’s. “Who are you?”

“I’m Eliwood.” He responded without a second thought. He then cursed himself. He should have used a fake name. He hadn’t quite thought far enough ahead to plan that out. Whelp, it was too late to go back now. “I’m new to the area. I just wanted to get to know the area just a bit. What’s this place?”

“It’s my father’s village.” The girl explained, at ease now that she knew who Eliwood was. “He’s the chieftain here.” She stared at his face for a second and then blushed with the slightest embarrassment. “Ah, sorry! I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rebecca?” She smiled, putting out her hand for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you.” Eliwood grinned in return and shook her hand, and then the man’s.

“Oh, and I’m Wil.” The brunette introduced himself quickly, about midway through the shake. Eliwood liked them, they both seemed like very nice people.

“Let me guess, you’re one of those city types, right?” Rebecca asked. “Nomads don’t really talk to anyone, and this place is way too small to be a city, and I’ve seen people get confused by it before. You still have a Lycian accent, though.” Oh. That was good then. It meant Eliwood didn’t have to come up with an even more convoluted backstory than he already did. 

“Ah, is it that obvious?” Eliwood asked. He did seem pretty obviously out of place. That was most certainly not the reason for it but hey, he’d take what he was given. “Sorry about that. I promise I’m not here to mess anything up.”

“I mean, you don’t seem like it.” Wil said. “Aside from the cloak, that was a little concerning.” Eliwood couldn’t help but laugh. He imagined the cloak made him look at least a little shady. He opened his mouth the respond when a sudden commotion struck up in a nearby building. It looked like a tavern. Rebecca groaned.

“Well, duty calls I guess.” She said, rolling her eyes. 

“See you around er. . .Erikood?” Wil said hesitantly.

“Eliwood.” He corrected, but the two of them had already run off by that point. He shrugged a little and kept walking continuing his adventure. He made his way to a more populated area, what looked to be the market, following the sound of music. It was. . .light. Light and hesitantly hopeful. He liked it. He continued to look for it until he suddenly found himself walking right into a short woman holding a small basket. She fell backwards, and the basket fell to the ground, a couple couples and a head of lettuce falling out, as well as a few pears. “Ah! I am so sorry.”

“I-It’s okay.” The woman assured him in a small voice. She moved to pick up her items but shrunk back when Eliwood got on his knees to help. He stopped, confused, but when she kept staring at him with anxiety apparent in her face, he quickly collected her items and put them in her basket, dusting them off as he went. He held the basket out her, and she shrunk back even more. “I-I. . .”

“It’s okay.” Eliwood assured her. “I won’t hurt you.” He continued to hold out the basket to her, but when it become obvious she definitely wasn’t going to take it from his hands. He gently set it on the ground in front of her and stood up. She took it and he put out a hand to help her up. After what felt like the longest minute of Eliwood’s life, she gently took it and stood up, quickly retracting her hand. She opened her mouth the say something, presumably thank you, but was cut off by the sound of another woman.

“Florina! There you are!” A taller, long haired woman ran over. The short girl, apparently Florina, visibly relaxed when she came up. It was nice to see, honestly. The taller woman gave Eliwood a friendly smile. “Thank you for helping her.”

“Well, it was sort of my fault.” Eliwood admitted with a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally walked into her.”

“Well, it happens. Now at least you know to pay better attention.” The woman said. Florina nodded, but hid behind her just a bit. “Oh, sorry. She’s a little. . .shy around men.” Shy was massive understatement but okay. A couple seconds of silence later, Eliwood decided he should probably introduce himself.

“I’m Eliwood.” He said, putting out his hand for the woman. She took his hand and shook it. At least this seemed to be a normal custom here. “And yes, I’ll definitely pay more attention next time.”

“I’m Lyn.” The woman introduced herself. “And it’s fine, she’s not hurt or anything you were nice enough to help her! That’s what really matters.” He nodded in agreement. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, Eliwood.”

“I’m new the area, recently moved here.” He said. “I wanted to look around and this seemed like a very nice village.” The music kicked up again, and he looked around, trying to find the source. “Is that a normal thing?”

“The music is, yes.” Lyn said. “But this music is pretty special. There’s a dancer that comes through every so often. The Capitol is a few hours away by horseback, so I think she comes from there. She arrives early in the morning and spends her day in the village, dancing in the market to the sound of the music. They play special music for her to dance to.”

“Where is she?” Lyn smiled at Eliwood’s question and pointed him through the crowd. He moved around people to find her, and finally stopped when he noticed a young woman with long blue hair dancing to the music that filled the air. His breath caught in his throat. Her dancing was absolutely incredible. She danced with a natural grace that he’d rarely ever had the opportunity to see. She looked so. . .peaceful, and happy. He smiled. It was beautiful.

He was pulled out of his daze by an arm on his shoulder. He looked up to his side and froze, forgetting how to breathe once again. It wasn’t good this time. At his side was Hector, with a look of anger and disappointment in his eyes. Eliwood gave a sheepish grin, and allowed himself to be quietly dragged away through the town. He did his best to keep up with the larger man, practically falling over his own legs.

When they finally reached the cabin Hector let him go. He stood with his back to Eliwood, breathing deeply. Eliwood bit his lip, wondering how to approach the situation. He didn’t necessarily think he was in the wrong, but he understood that he broke the rules. He could see Matthew inside, and kind of hoped the other would come outside and save him but at the same time he probably deserved whatever he got.

“Do you know how much worrying you just caused us both?” Hector asked, breaking the silence with even more tension than before. Eliwood did not respond. “Did you really not know? Or did you know and not care?”

“Of course I care Hector.” Eliwood responded, his voice firm. He was almost a little insulted. Did Hector honestly think he didn’t care?

“Then why did you do it?” The larger man questioned, turning to Eliwood with pure fire in his eyes. “Why did you do it, Eliwood!”

“Because you’re smothering me!” Eliwood finally shot back. “You two won’t let me go anywhere, even with company! I don’t mind not being alone if I go into the village or to the woods but please, you have to let me go somewhere! I’m going crazy on my own!”  
“Do you really think you can beat me yet?”

“No.” Eliwood said. “But that’s okay! Matthew has told me I’m doing very well with the sword, and it’s not like I’m completely new to it. I used to beat you about half the time, you just have a lot more practice than I do. . . .And an axe.” He paused, and then smiled. “Besides, even if I run into trouble, you’ll be there.” Hector stared at him, frowning, and then relaxed a little.

“I’m. . .I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so protective. I know you’re going crazy here. I’m just. . .” Hector’s hands curled slightly into loose fists, and then relaxed. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.” Eliwood was about to push the issue when Hector turned away from him. “We’ll go to the village tomorrow, you and me, and Matthew if he wants to come. I promise.”

With that, Hector went inside, leaving Eliwood standing and staring at the spot he occupied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay a few things.
> 
> 1) I have never written Rebecca, Hector, Matthew, Florina, or Lyn before in my life so I am sorry. From FE7 I've personally roleplayed Eliwood, Wil, Lucius, and Karel. I'm doing my best I promise.
> 
> 2) Wil is my god damn sunshine child I love him and I want to see him thrive bless this wonderful man and everything about him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world burns, both figuratively and literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. . .a really long chapter. . .be proud of me everyone. . .Kuro deserves it. . .

“Alright, you have to promise me that you are going to stay close to me.” Hector said to Eliwood as the prepared to leave the cabin.

“He can also stay with me.” Matthew suggested. “If you need to go anywhere.” He slid on his scarf and settled his sword at his side. “After all, as entertaining as it is to watch you follow him like a giant, protective puppy, eventually you’re going to need to leave his side for at least a moment.”

“You two know you can actually trust me to walk around by myself, right?” Eliwood said. It maybe sounded a bit more annoyed than he had meant it to, but he was annoyed at this point. He felt like they considered him to be an infant. He was an adult damnit. This may be a new, unfamiliar world, but he’d already gone out once, and nothing had proved to be too much of a threat, and he’d even been practicing his fighting with them both! He could be trusted just a bit of time in the village alone.

“I know.” Hector admitted, giving the other man a somewhat sympathetic look. “The world is dangerous, though.” _I don’t want to lose you._ It was a hidden message, but Eliwood could see it either way. “I promise that you’ll be able to go places alone. . .eventually. When you’re stronger.”

“Stronger.” Matthew commented with a laugh. Hector shot him a look. “I really hope you’re not comparing him to yourself.”

“He has a point, Hector.” Eliwood laughed. “Everyone is weak compared to you. So maybe compare me to Matthew, and you might be able to set me free just a bit sooner.” He gave a playful wink and adjusted his sword so it hung properly.

“Listen I did not come here to be judged.” Hector defended.

“Oh? Then why did you come here?”

“. . .I’m beginning to see the value in leaving you alone.”

Eliwood and Matthew laughed at Hector’s response, and allowed the man to reach and gently whack them on the sides of their heads. They left the cabin in good spirits, continuing to joke around with each other as they made their way through the surrounding trees. Eliwood smiled as he listened to Matthew and Hector, occasionally offering his own input, but enjoying this small moment of peace. He didn’t know how long it would last, but he wanted to keep a hold of this as long as he could.

Without missing a beat, Eliwood noticed something wrong. He stopped, looking around and sniffing the air. He smelt smoke. . .but not smoke he was used to. Back home he was used to cooking smoke, when his mother cooked with fire under the pan just a bit too high, or smoke from a neighborhood barbeque. This wasn’t that type of smoke though. This was. . .

“Fire!” Hector yelled as Eliwood came to the exact same conclusion. The three men ran forward, pushing their way through the forest. It was then that Eliwood realized how far away the village was. He couldn’t tell how long he had been running, but he knew it was long enough for an uncontrolled fire to produce a decent amount of damage. He was proven right when they arrived. The village was already covered in flames, with Wil and Rebecca seen trying to get people out of the village. Eliwood spotted Florina riding a pegasus, flying over the village with a bucket of water, dumping it and disappearing to get more water. It was a nice thought but at this chance the fire was just going to out burn her water.

“Wil!” Eliwood yelled, running up to his acquaintances. “Rebecca!” The two of them looked at him, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Eliwood!” Rebecca yelled, running up to him. Wil waved and turned back to his task of calling into the burning village, trying to guide people to the front entrance. “It’s good to see you safe! I wasn’t sure if you were still in the village or not!”

“Don’t worry, as you can see I didn’t spend the night.” Eliwood said. He looked at the village and pursed his lips. “When did this start?”

“Early this morning.” She said. “I awoke just as it was beginning to spread. I wasn’t able to get out though. There were boards nailed around my door. It was on every door. I had to break my bedroom window to get out.” She pulled at one of her braids anxiously. “I. . .my father was spending the night with a friend. I haven’t seen him. I’ve only seen my friends Lyn and Florina, and Wil. The fire was spreading so quickly. . .it was like magic. We couldn’t pry off the boards by hand so Wil and I. . .we just broke the windows that we could as we ran but I’m starting to worry that no one got out.”

“It’ll be okay.” Eliwood assured her. “I’m sure they’ve gotten out. Maybe they left through another exit?”

“This is the main entrance and exit of the village, but there are others. So maybe you’re right.” Rebecca agreed. “Lyn ran back in there. She’s trying to find people.” Lyn. Lyn was in there. Lyn the woman who was with Florina and had been nice to him. She had run back into what was becoming a blazing inferno. He quickly ran back in there, or at least tried. He heard a loud voice shout and a pair of arms wrap around his waist, lifting him off the ground.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Hector yelled as Eliwood struggled in his arms.

“Let me go Hector!” Eliwood yelled, wriggling in his arms and turning his head to face the larger man. “I have to go in there!”

“You are literally trying to run into a fire!”

“There are people in there Hector!” Eliwood yelled. “Lyn! She’s in there! She’s a good woman she’s trying to help people! There could be any number of people in there! There could be children in there!” There was a moment of silence and he was dropped. Hector ran into the fire, with Eliwood right behind him. They could hear Matthew yelling behind him, and Hector yelled back to wait for them.

They ran from house to house, Eliwood throwing rocks at the heating glasses while Hector used his axe to chop through doors. They were able to release a few people, but most of the ones they found were already choking from smoke inhalation. It was too late to save them. Fortunately, before long they were at least able to come across Lyn. Less fortunately though was that she hadn’t appeared to be able to save anyone either. She gave them a grateful, but disheartened look.

“That’s. . .that’s all the houses!” She yelled. “I’ve been everywhere I could think would have people!” She paused. “Except the stables! I think the horses are still there!” She took off, and both them ran after her. They had begun to cover their mouths and noses with their cloaks.

They arrived at the stables, and sure enough the doors were still boarded shut. Hector made quick work of them, chopping it down with his axe, letting Eliwood and Lyn rush inside before him. There didn’t appear to be any stable workers inside, but the horses were trapped. Eliwood opened the latches of the stables, trying to force the horses out. Most of them ran out as soon as they were released, but many of them were too spooked to run out without coercion.

He could feel the smoke overwhelming his lungs as he tried to force the horses out. He didn’t want them to die. He loved animals, he loved horses. He used to go horseback-riding with his father as a young boy every Sunday morning. He didn’t want them to die.

That was the last thing he thought before his world went black.

____________________________________________________________________________

_“Eliwood. . .”_

_“Eliwood!_

_“Eli_ wood!”

Eliwood’s eyes flashed open. He was laying on the ground next to the village, which was still smoking, still burning. Every building was on fire, but they were surrounded by horses. Nearby were a few people. Hector was hovering over him with a worried expression, Matthew at his side. Lyn was sitting nearby, Florina checking on her with the pegasus acting as something for the woman to lean against. In front of the village, Wil was staring at the destruction with Rebecca in his arms, her face buried in his chest.

He shakily sat up and began coughing. Well, less coughing and more hacking his lungs up. Hector helped him up, and watched him like an overprotective hawk. He caught his breath, suddenly remembering every time he was sick as a child. Which was a lot. Eliwood was not a well man.

“Did. . .did anyone get out?” Eliwood asked, looking at the blunette. The solemn look on his face was all he needed to know that this small group of six was what amounted of the survivors. He frowned, feeling a pang in his chest. He wanted to pretend it was smoke inhalation but no, it was guilt. 

Well, it was probably both.

“You blacked out.” Hector said. “You almost got trampled by a horse. We got almost all of them out but some of them wouldn’t move. It was between dragging them out or grabbing you. I had to make my choice.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Eliwood murmured, pulling his knees to his chest now that he’d caught his breath. He let out a couple more coughs, and after a few minutes stood up, helping himself with Hector’s shoulder. The larger man stood up next to him. “Can. . .can we go for a walk?”

“Sure.” He agreed. Eliwood was surprised by the lack of arguing, but decided not to press it. Instead, he began walking, Hector trailing after him. “. . .You okay?”

“There’s no way that was a natural fire.” Eliwood said. “It spread way too quickly, and people were locked in their houses. They were locked in there to die. That’s horrifying.”

“This world is a sick place, Eliwood. I told you that.”

“I know but this is beyond sick.” He took a deep breath. “This is deliberate mass murder. An entire village was extinguished. This was beyond sick.” He was about to go on when he heard the sound of sobbing from a nearby thicket. The two of them chose to investigate, and after a minute of following the sound, found a young woman and an even younger boy. He appeared to be comforting her, and Eliwood’s eyes widened when he recognized her as the dancer in the village the day before.

“It’s okay. . .” The boy said, brushing her hair behind her ears. She was crying while kneeling on the ground, and he was kneeling in front of her, comforting her. “It’ll be okay.”

“He burned the village, Nils.” The woman said. “I made a mistake. Father found out about the village. How could I have been so foolish?”

“You weren’t foolish it’s okay.” He told her. “He just. . .happened to see you leave. It’ll be okay. You’ll find a new safe place.”

That was all Eliwood needed to hear to turn and leave. The dancer’s father had discovered the village. Where did Lyn say the dancer woman was from? The capital? The capital. Hector trailed him back to the village, where he immediately approached a now calm Rebecca. He needed answers. He needed to find some sort of justice in the world, something good. He was here, he may as well right the wrong if he knew he could.

“Rebecca.” He said. She looked up at him. “What do you want to do now? The leader of the village was your father. It’s up to you.”

“. . .I want to find out who did it.” Rebecca said. “I want them to suffer.”

“Then let’s go find them.” Eliwood agreed. “At least maybe we’ll get an answer.”

“Okay.” Rebecca said with a smile.

“I’ll go with you two!” Wil said, stepping to his friend’s side. He flashed her a smile.

“I’ll go too.” Lyn added, standing up.

“A-And me!” Florina stepped up. Lyn stared at her, and the women seemed to share a silent discussion before Florina stepped to her side, standing by her words.

“Well, Hector?” Matthew questioned, looking at the man at his side. Hector stared at Eliwood. “What are we going to do?”

“. . .I go where you go Eliwood.” Hector relented. Eliwood smiled at him.

“Then we leave tomorrow. At dawn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! I'll see you all here next week!
> 
> Expect a Michalis x Karel fic soon cause I'm not well.


End file.
